The Cambridge History of English and American Literature in 18 Volumes (190721).Volume VIII. The Age of Dryden.

X. Memoir and Letter Writers.

§ 1. Diaries of Evelyn and Pepys Published as Written.

DIARIES are usually written for the writers own private information, and their production has been common in most ages. They have sometimes been made use of as the foundation for subsequently published reminiscences; but very few have been printed as they were originally written. The two great exceptions to this general rule are the diaries of John Evelyn and Samuel Pepys, and these may be ranked as distinguished illustrations of two distinct classes of diary. The one is a record of occurrences in the life of the writer, and the other a relation of a mixture of incidents and confessions.